..Primary prevention of congenital anomalies in the population based on controlling environmental risk factors is a crucial policy priority, including preconceptional care and whole population approaches...

..In this paper, we aim to examine trends in the live birth prevalence of Down syndrome in Europe in the light of trends in maternal age and in prenatal diagnosis...

Trends in the prevalence of cerebral palsy in Northern Ireland, 1981-1997

Helen DolkFaculty of Life and Health Sciences, University of Ulster at Jordanstown, Newtownabbey, County Antrim, UKDev Med Child Neurol 48:406-12; discussion 405. 2006

..Occurrence of bilateral spasticity from 1994 to 1997 was associated with greater severity and likelihood of intellectual impairment for normal-birthweight individuals than for low- or very-low-birthweight individuals...

Ambient air pollution and risk of congenital anomalies in England, 1991-1999

..We conclude that it is doubtful whether we have had the systems in place worldwide for the effective surveillance of hypospadias in relation to exposure to potential endocrine-disrupting chemicals...

..The epidemiologic approach is important not only to elucidate environmental causes but also to assess the implementation of existing research into policy and practice for the prevention of birth defects...

Prevalence and risk of Down syndrome in monozygotic and dizygotic multiple pregnancies in Europe: implications for prenatal screening

..96-fold compared with an increase of 3.95-fold for mothers in the other age groups. These findings indicate that the phenomenon of increasing gastroschisis prevalence is not restricted to younger mothers only...

..Cerebral palsy seems to be more common in term babies whose birthweight is low for their gestational age at delivery, but past analyses have been hampered by small datasets and Z-score calculation methods...

..Almost 70% of patients, born after the 37th week of gestation, weighed <or=2,500 g. Low birth weight correlated with a more severe phenotype. Severe limb anomalies were significantly more often present in males...

Survey of informed consent for registration of congenital anomalies in Europe